If this is as described, Macy's was right but handled the situation about as poorly as possible

It's a good chance if the guy was in the back looking for more, the other customer had probably asked first and the salesman felt on the spot. Nonetheless it was shitty to do without some sort of apology and attempt to make amends.

I would have licked it.

Macy's was in the wrong, and they should have sold her the pot and offered a discounted item to the other customer.

Sounds like the "other customer" was the one who asked first before Dyan did. In this case, Macy's is right, but handled the situation very poorly. How this d-bag got promoted to manager is beyond me.

The guy who was looking in the back should have taken the item off the display just in case this sort of thing happened.

Also, is it just me or is the Martha Stewart line tanking at Macy's? The displays are totally untouched whenever I shop there, while the other housewares stuff seems to be selling OK.

@winstonthorne: Seconded. Any objections?

I work at macy's and if this had happened at our store we probably would have offered you a similar item at the same price or have it shipped for free from another store to your home. Sorry you had to go through this! Btw if you emailed the store manager they are usually willing to fix the problem even though the sale is over. Good luck!

@pinkbunnyslippers: D-bags get promoted to managers all the time.

First of all, when it comes to a clearance item, it should be first come, first served.

What the manager should have done was to take the pot off the display and hang on to it behind the register for the first customer. Or the first customer could have put it in their cart. Or the manager could have even marked the tag "Sold".

But for whatever reason, none of those were done.

The second mistake was the way that the manager dealt with Dyan. It's reasonable to apologize and explain that they made a mistake and the pot wasn't available any more because someone else had already asked for it previously. In that situation, I probably would have shrugged and handed it over with no hard feelings. It's not reasonable to say "You can't buy that, because another customer wants it" and to provoke an argument.

So, assuming the email is an accurate description of what happened, Macy's made two mistakes. I think Macy's does owe Dyan an apology, and it would have been going the extra mile (but not strictly speaking necessary) to offer a similar discount on a similar item to make up for the errors.

And they wonder why theyre going broke.

Seeing as though a cast iron pot has no real value to the average person other than decorative; she was probably better off. I got one by the fireplace, but it only cost a buck at a yard sale.

@MDSasquatch: Cast iron is awesome. Seriously.

@winstonthorne: ahhh hahahhahahah

@MDSasquatch: i'm an average person & a cast iron pot has a tremendous value: i can cook things in it without the food ending up on the floor or in the stove.

@winstonthorne:

Much like a dog wetting a fence post - Mine, MINE, ALL MINE!

It could be that the other customer was first or it could be that the other salesperson was higher on the corporate food chain than the salesperson who gave you the all clear. In either case the person in questions handled the situation with startlingly bad manners resulting in lost sales, bad feelings and ultimately bad publicity.

@winstonthorne: I would have stinkpalmed it.

I wonder if the manager walked off with it because they wanted it for themselves. "You can't have this, another customer wants it. What customer? Uh, they're on the other end of the store. Shoo."

@MDSasquatch: Are you smoking crack or something?

@pinkbunnyslippers: I think it's a requirement. At least it is where I work.

Clearly, Dyan's *first* mistake was shopping at Macy's.

@pinkbunnyslippers: Maybe they should have people stationed right in front of the checkout lanes to remove items other people may want. Maybe right before you check out, your cart should be searched for items other people may want.
How about this: Dyan should go to another manager, asked about the item, and have it taken from the offenders cart.

Dyan here -

With my luck, the woman probably changed her mind and decided she didn't want it after all.

It's clearly the customer's fault for not just taking it and paying for it quicker.

Saved you the trouble. Could of bought the cast iron cookware cheaper at a sporting good store.

I bought a nice size cast iron pan at Sport Chalet for like $12

@MDSasquatch: Um, I use my cast-iron all the time. If you've got an extra one lying around I'd gladly take it off your hands.

In my experience, most stores have a policy (stated or implied) that whoever is actually holding the merchandise has dibs on it. It doesn't matter who wanted it first or who asked for it first, what matters is who has it in their possession when they reach the register.

I'm sure we've all seen situations where someone puts something in low supply down only to have another customer swoop in to grab it as soon as it's on the shelf again (this is especially true during sales).

I've heard some horror stories from places like Wal-Mart (a friend used to work there) where people walk away (and sometimes simply turn away) from their carts to grab something on big sale days like Black Friday and they have things pulled from their shopping carts by other customers.

In those instances the store would just apologize to the person who "lost" the item but point out that without knowing who did it, they can't really go around taking away items from other customers.

I'm inclined to think that the rude salesman was in the wrong here. Since he went back to check to see if they had any more in stock it would have been perfectly acceptable for him to come back and say "I'm sorry the one on display is the only one we have left" at which point it would have been the other customer's problem for not thinking to either grab the display model. Clearly they were waiting to see if they could get a non-display model so the display model was still available as they didn't have it in their possession.

@evilinkblot:

totally disagree. first come first served. in this case the first person to get it in hand is the first person served.

@MDSasquatch: I'm guessing you don't cook much because cast iron pans are awesome to cook with and generally not that awesome for looking at. If Conusmerist were a pan, it would likely be a covered cast iron skillet. I'm just sayin'.

Macy's didn't handle this well and should have offered to get you the same pot from another store. I have a smililar on, and saw the ad and was shocked at the price. So I don't blame you for fighting for this one. And I'm not surprised that they acted like a-holes about it. I've emailed the store before and have received not so shockingly cagey responses from store management, but it is worth a try.

I agree with the 'Macy's was right but handled it badly' crowd.

That would be a delicate situation but extending a similar discount to another piece would go a long way for customer satisfaction.

I probably would have walked away and taken it to another department. What would they have done, pry it from my hands? (I don't mind making a scene)

@velvetjones: Damn straight. I'll take cast iron over teflon, no-stick crap every time.

possession is 9/10ths, no?

Ditto to all on this one. The manager should have removed the display and stored it at a register or in the back until he could confirm there was no available backstock. To take it out of the customer's hand without a word of apology is just rude. BTW, you can get a really, really awesome Coleman cast iron skillet (14") at Dick's Sporting Goods for like, $15.

The Macy's employee acted like a jerk. How can you pull something out of a paying customer's hands and not (at a minimum) apologize? I know I'm writing this on the intertubes, but sometimes a $20 pan is not worth making a scene. Dyan should take comfort in the fact that she acted like a grown up and gave up the pan. The employee, on the other hand, has a to look forward to being on the business end of some bad karma...

@MDSasquatch: The amazing cast iron pot I want from William Sonoma [www.williams-sonoma.com] Usless it is NOT.

As I see it, this is interesting but only half of the real story. The first half is "What happened?" and we have that.
The second half, and the half that Consumerist should be just as focused on, is "What did Macy's do about it?" or perhaps "How did Macy's respond to the complaint?"
It's too bad you couldn't let this simmer a bit longer until Dylan got a response to his email.
If a company screws the pooch, that's bad, but if they make a goodwill, concerted effort to really correct the problem and apologize, that's just as important.
It's what keeps The Consumerist away from Fonzie and the shark :)

Rule of thumb: If you aren't sure if someone owes you an apology, then they don't.

Is it just me, or is anyone else tired of 'the official apology' becoming the currency of our culture? Who really gives a flying eff if you get an apology because someone else bought your pot?

If this went down as described, then the employee could use a lesson in customer relations. Feel free to demand better service by shopping elsewhere.

I had a similar situation happened to me before, but we were both looking at the same item (don't even remember what it was now), so I let her have the display unit, because she asked about it first.

But I agree with some of you, that Dyan should get an apology and a raincheck for that item or something similar.

Isn't that Martha Stewart stuff made in China anyway? I hate to spread the sometimes irrational fear of Chinese-made products, but lead in enamel/glazes has been a problem for awhile now. You could get a made-in-the-USA non-enameled cast iron pan for $20. If you really just gotta have the enameled cast iron, you'd be better off saving a whole lot of your pennies for Le Creuset or Staub.

Oh, and the manager did handle it very poorly. Why couldn't he have told the other person (the person NOT holding the merchandise!) that they were all sold out? Is this a commission-grub maneuver?

I'm leaning towards the possession aspect of this. He had possession of said pan (even if the clerk was carrying it for him). For someone else to come and take it away was rude and stupid. They should have offered the other person an alternative.

BTW, Lodge brand pans are really good and far less expensive. Most camping stores carry them and also Target & Wally World.

@BlondeGrlz: Try Lodge as well...I bought a similar pot from them (albeit, at one of there outlet stores) and it only cost $45. Looks like it was the exact same pot.

@backbroken: The problem is that there are a very finite number of places you can purchase certain items. When all the stores are using the same playbook on how to treat customers like crap, going elsewhere doesn't always solve much.

Sort of like the churn theory the cell phone companies use.

Possession??? The store had clear ownership and it was up to the person in charge to decide who the lucky purchaser would be. A little tact could have resulted in 2 happy customers.

I say that manager owes you an apology, not Macy's as a whole, because it's not policy, it's just the lack of nicety the manager displayed.

Either way, you should've walked out of Macy's with a $20 cast iron skillet, whether it was that one or a better one given at a discount.

I would have held onto it and taken it to another register. What can the manager do? Accuse me of stealing? i would have told the manager that it's too bad that the other customer wasn't here to pick up the pot. My take is you snooze, you lose.

I think you should refer to the Supreme Court Case of Finders vs Keepers

@evilinkblot: Right for what? They were going to sell the pot. What gives someone else the right to jump the line? If they wanted it they should have picked it up in the first place!

I would have taken the pot and beaten the manager with it. Then told the manager -- "You know you are right, its used now. They can have it." But then hey, thats against the law. Sigh...